Nicotine dose control presents challenges in the development of electronic smoking articles configured to deliver an aerosol containing nicotine. Smokers have been observed to alter their smoking patterns to receive higher doses of nicotine when smoking low nicotine delivery products such as certain electronic smoking articles. Compensatory changes in smoking behaviour include taking larger puff volumes, more frequent puffs, inhaling more deeply, blocking ventilation, or taking more puffs per day.
Most nicotine dose control technology employed in electronic smoking articles is based on controlling the amount of nicotine-containing aerosol delivered within an individual puff and does not, for example, count for the frequency of repeated puffs. The mechanism for control depends on the type of electronic smoking article used. By way of example, existing control mechanism include controlling the energy supplied to heat a nicotine-containing aerosol generating substrate or controlling valve actuation sequence to deliver a pressurized source of a nicotine-containing composition. Such technology is configured to control the dose delivered by the smoking article and is not based on the parameters associated with the smoker, which can vary substantially between individuals.